Corona shield and lead clip assembly



"vial" March 26, 1957 E. J. ZELT 2,786,883

CORONA SHIELD AND LEAD CLIP ASSEMBLY Filed April 21, 1955 Inventor-Elmer- J. Zelt,

His Attorne g.

- terminal.

United States Patent CORONA SHIELD AND LEAD "CLIP ASSEMBLY Elmer J.Zelt, Fort Wayne, Ind., assignor to General This invention relates todevices for preventing corona discharge from the terminals of highvoltage devices, such as sealed gap arc discharge devices used incapacitor discharge systems, and has particular applicability to acombined corona shield and clip for attaching leadsto a terminal of sucha high voltage device.

It is well known that a corona discharge is likely to occur around aconductor which is at an elevated potential. In certain capacitordischarge systems, asealed gap arc discharge gap is provided havingterminals which are normally at a high potential. A corona discharge istherefore likely to occur around these terminals and it is thereforedesirable to provide means for shielding the corona discharge to prevent.discharge to other elements of the apparatus rather than across thesealed gap. In addition, various leads must be connected to theterminals of the device and it is therefore desirable to provide acombined corona shield and lead clip assembly which will not onlyprovide the requisite corona shielding effect, but also provide forreadily attaching 'the leads to the It is further desirable that thiscorona shield and lead clip assembly be simple, inexpensive and readilyassembled on the terminal.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a corona shieldand lead clip assembly incorporating the desirable features set forthabove.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent byreference to the following description and the accompanying drawing, andthe features of novelty which characterize this invention will bepointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming apart of this specification.

In accordance with this invention, a cup-shaped corona shield member isprovided having a substantially dishshaped bottom portion, the shieldmember being adapted to be positioned over the terminal of a highvoltage device. A lead clip member is arranged within the shield memberand is secured to the rim thereof, the clip member having a plurality ofinwardly projecting fingers. Some of these fingers are adaptedresiliently to embrace the terminal for securing the assembly theretoand others of the fingers are adapted to have leads attached thereto.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, illustrating theimproved corona shield and lead clip assembly of this invention attachedto the terminal of a high voltage device, such as a sealed gap arcdischarge device;

Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the improved corona shield and lead clipassembly of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective showing the bottom side of the device ofFigs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective, partially broken away, showing themanner of attachment of leads to the improved corona shield and leadclip assembly of this invention; and

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view, partially in section, illustrating amodified form of this invention.

2,786,883 Patented Mar. 26, 1957 shield member 4 having a substantiallydish-shaped bottom portion 5 and an annular rim 6. A cup-shaped leadclip member 7 is provided arranged within shield member 4 with the outersurface of its annular rim 8 in engagement with the inner surface of rim6 of shield member 4 and extending in the opposite direction to meet thebottom portion 5 thereof. As best shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the lowerextremity 9 of rim 6 of shield member 4 may be rolled or pressed overthe outer edge of the lead clip member 7 in order to secure the leadclip member and the shield member 4 in assembled relation.

A center opening 10 is formed in the bottom portion of the lead clipmember 7 with a plurality of narrow bent inwardly into the cavity 15defined by shield member 4 and lead clip member 7. The corona shield andlead clip assembly 4 is positioned over the terminal 2 with theterminal. extending through the opening 10, as best seen in Fig. 1, withthe inwardly bent extremities 14 of fingers .13 serving to resilientlyembrace terminal 2 thereby to secure the assembly thereto.

in order to attach the bared end 16 of a lead 17 to lead clip member 7,the end 16 is brought upwardly through an opening 12 in lead clip member7 into the cavity 15 and an extremity 14 of a finger 13 is bent over theend 16, firmly securing it to the lead clip member 7, as at 18. Thisinwardly bending operation may be performed with a pair of long-nosedpliers. If it is desired that the end 16 of lead 17 be soldered to thelead clip member 7 after it is mechanically attached thereto, the end 16can be pretinned and can therefore be soldered by merely applying heat.If more solder is required, it can be fed through the opening 12adjacent the lead.

The corona shield and lead clip assembly shown in Figs. 1 to 4,inclusive, is provided with six fingers 13 thus permitting threealternate fingers to be used in securing the assembly to the terminal 2and permitting attachment of three leads to the remaining fingers.Obviously, less than three leads may be attached and the idle fingersutilized to embrace terminal 2. If it is desirable to attach more thanthree leads, the number of fingers 13 may be correspondingly increased.Furthermore, it may not be necessary to utilize alternate fingers 13 toattach the assembly to the terminal 2 and only sufiicient fingers needbe employed to provide the requisite degree of firmness of attachment.

Referring now to Fig. 5 in which like elements are indicated by likereference numerals, it is seen that the bottom portion 5 of shieldmember 4 is provided with an outwardly extending centrally disposedindentation 19 in which the end of terminal 2 is seated, thus providinga more rigid attachment of the corona shield and lead clip assembly 3 tothe terminal 2.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of thisinvention, further modifications and improvements will occur to thoseskilled in the art. I desire that it be understood therefore that thisinvention is not limited to the particular forms shown and I intend inthe appended claims to cover all modifications which do not depart fromthe spirit and scope of this invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. A corona shield and lead clip assembly for a terminal of a highvoltage device comprising a cup-shaped corona shield member having asubstantially dish-shaped bottom portion, said shield member beingadapted to be positioned over said terminal, and a cup-shaped lead clipmember arranged within said shield member with its rim in engagementwith the rim of said shield member, said clip member having an openingformed in the center thereof with a plurality of slits extendingradially out-- wardly therefrom defining a plurality of inwardlyprojecting fingers, some of said fingers being bent inwardly and beingthereby adapted resiliently to embrace the outer peripheral surface ofsaid terminal for securing said assembly thereto, the remainder of saidfingers being adapted to be bent over thereby respectively to secureleads thereto.

2. A corona shield and lead clip assembly for the terminal of a highvoltage device comprising a cup-shaped corona shield member having asubstantially dish-shaped bottom portion, said shield member beingadapted to be positioned over said terminal, and a cup-shaped lead clipmember arranged within said shield member and defining a cavitytherewith, said clip member having its rim in engagement with the rim ofsaid shield member and extending in the opposite direction, the lowerextremity of said shield member rim being turned inwardly over the outerextremity of the bottom portion of said clip member, said clip memberhaving an opening formed in the center thereof with a plurality of slitsextending radially outward therefrom defining a plurality of inwardlyprojecting fingers and respectively terminating in a plurality ofopenings of greater diameter than the width of said slits, some of saidfingers having their inner extremities bent inwardly and being therebyadapted resiliently to embrace the outer peripheral surface of saidterminal for securing said assembly thereto, the remainder of saidfingers being adapted to be bent over in said cavity therebyrespectively to secure leads thereto, said plurality of openings beingadapted to accommodate said leads.

3. A corona shield and lead clip assembly for the terminal of a highvoltage device comprising a cup-shaped corona shield member having asubstantially dish-shaped bottom portion, said shield member bottomportion having a centrally disposed outwardly projecting indentationformed therein, said shield member being adapted to be positioned oversaid terminal with the end of said terminal being seated in saidindentation, and a cup-shaped lead clip member arranged within saidshield member and defining a cavity therewith, said clip member havingits rim in engagement with the rim of said shield member and extendingin the opposite direction, the lower extreinity of said shield memberrim being turned inwardly over the outer extremity of the bottom portionof said clip member, said clip member having an opening formed in thecenter thereof with a plurality of slits extending radially outwardtherefrom defining a plurality of inwardly projecting fingers andrespectively terminating in a plurality of openings of greater diameterthan the width of said slits, some of said fingers having their innerextremities bent inwardly and being thereby adapted resiliently toembrace the outer peripheral surface of said terminal for securing saidassembly thereto, the remainder of said fingers being adapted to be bentover in said cavity thereby respectively to secure leads thereto, saidplurality of openings being adapted to accommodate said leads.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSl,9l4,l09 Cadieux June 13, 1933 1,959,442 Paulson May 22, 1934 2,434,572Mankin Jan. 13, 1948 2,549,577 Coyle Apr. 17, 1951

